


Believe in Answers Unknown

by NyxEternal



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Character Death, Gen, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-18
Updated: 2016-02-18
Packaged: 2018-05-21 12:26:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6051583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyxEternal/pseuds/NyxEternal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The hero never came. Hyrule has been overrun and taken, the king and queen dead where they stood and a princess on the run. She has no where to go and no choice but to act. In an effort to rescue her people and her country, she takes on the hero's mantle in hopes that this time, the stories remain true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Believe in Answers Unknown


    Her father choked on his own blood in front of her; the red liquid dribbling down his chin as the light fled his eyes. The great King of Hyrule, brought down by a corrupt foreigner. By a legend as old as the goddesses themselves in mortal form, commanding soldiers to create destruction in the peaceful throne room she hid from Impa in as a young girl in pretty, pink skirts.  
    
    Now she hid from these monsters and soldiers that looked nothing like their commander as Impa carefully worked at opening the secret passage that would guide them to safety. From here, she could see the carnage. A more fragile girl would not watch, but she was a monarch. A soon-to-be queen. Queens were witness to cruelty unknown to the common woman.  
    
    Her mother knelt beside her father's bleeding body when the blade pulled free from his chest. She spoke, but the princess heard nothing. Silvery steel slammed into her skull, painting fading golden hair a sickening red as her head was cleaved open.  
    
    "Bring me the princess!"  
    
    His voice oozed with such power she felt she would never move again. She swore it shook the whole castle. She knew better, of course, but fear almost gave her doubts. A strong hand wrapped around her forearm and yanked her back.   
    
    Zelda turned to look at Impa, relieved it was the older woman who grabbed her and was now pulling her through the tunnel. She stopped to seal it again, which took far less time, and cover them in darkness. There was still no time to feel as Impa grabbed her hand the moment she could not see her and dragged her through the shadows.  
    
    Their footsteps echoed off of stone walls and mice skittered away, their little claws scraping. It was damp and cold, but better than the dark heat of the throne room. Anything was better than that.  
    
    A burning light seared her hand and she cringed. It manifested only a handful of days ago, when news of activity in the desert was first heard. The Triforce of Wisdom.  
    
    For all the good. A wise girl hid and let her family die, let her country fall to an evil king. A courageous girl would not. A powerful girl would not.  
    
    Zelda pulled her hand free of Impa and clutched it to her chest. Tears burned at her eyes as she chewed on her bottom lip. In the faint glow coming from her mark, she could make out her caretaker watching her. Concern and annoyance covered those familiar red eyes.  
    
    "Princess?" There was a slight edge to her voice, but nothing unexpected. Impa only wanted her safety. In truth, the Sheikah had been more family to her than the two people that now lay dead.  
    
    "Why didn't the hero come to stop him?" Zelda asked, her tone barely a whisper but somehow magnified in that moment. "I haven't even seen him in my dreams, Impa... Where is the hero?"  
    
    Impa looked to the ground, as if the answers were among the stones and mice. Moments passed between them; moments that, elsewhere, were filled with chaos and death. Zelda felt her heart jump into her throat.  
    
    Impa's silence spoke louder than even the dark king.  
    
    There would be no hero this time. Hyrule had been abandoned by the goddesses. They were going to let him win and Hyrule was lost forever. The legends, the stories, the myths? They ended here, in this time, with her family. She would be known as the cowardly princess, a stain upon her name, upon tradition. A traitor to her people for her own survival.  
    
    Unless...  
    
    She walked past Impa, using the light to guide her way. Her heart raced and with each step she prayed. She prayed the goddesses would send her a sign, answers, the hero. Anything. She could not just give up.  
    
    She heard Impa's light footsteps, barely heavier than a feather, trail after her. Above them, the ground seemed to shake. Soldiers, Zelda assumed. Still, she walked on. What else could she do?  
    
    If she gave up now, all would truly be lost.  
    
    An explosive blast threw her forward, causing her to curl up on the ground. Smoke filled the tunnel as heavy, fast footsteps approached. The evil king's forces found them.  
    
    She looked back, greeted by bright light and smoke. Thick smoke. It dawned on her Impa must have released a smoke bomb to aid their escape. But then, where was Impa?  
    
    "Hand over the princess!" A loud hiss echoed of the walls. A lizalfos? She thought those were just part of the stories.  
    
    "I will carry that knowledge to my grave." Impa said, her voice powerful and commanding. It reverberated in the princess's chest as she carefully got to her feet. Her heart raced. Surely Impa could fight them off. She was much stronger than the king, and a skilled fighter to boot.  
    
    "The Sheikah are violently loyal to the royal family of Hyrule. We would have a quicker time of it if we killed her and hunted through the tunnel." Another voice commented. It was female, one she did not recognize from the war party in the throne room.  
    
    "You can try!" Impa shouted before the sound of metal slamming into a body echoed out.  
    
    Zelda did not wait to witness the result. Impa was holding them off so she could escape. They would see each other again soon, she was sure of it.  
    
    And so, the princess ran, turning down different paths and climbing through rubble until she food a door broken ajar at the end. Beyond the door was sunlight pouring into a cozy little room, so far from wreckage and death that it all seemed a nightmare.She stumbled through and paused to look around. It looked almost like a small, private temple to the goddesses. There were statues to the goddesses, broken as they were, benches, a shattered altar and a tapestry of the fabled hero.  
    
    She approached the tapestry, her sandals lightly slapping against the wooden floor. Dust covered everything around her. All that mattered, however, was that tapestry.  
    
    She let her fingers room across the fabric, tracing his outline. Clad all in green, wielding The Sword of Evil's Bane, he stood triumphant over a monstrous figure half clad in shadows. Wasn't this what Hyrule needed now? A legend come to life?  
    
    She turned and looked back at the door, then noticed a chest beside it. Her gaze drifted back to the hero on the tapestry. The stories said he was the holder of Courage, but maybe...  
    
    Her people needed hope, now. And the hero was a symbol. If she could no longer be their princess, at least, until she found him...  
    
    She walked over to the chest and opened it, thankful she was right to assume it held the Hero's Clothes. She stripped out of her simple shift and leggings, neatly folded them then dressed in the green tunic. She placed her belongings in the chest where they had been, then closed it.  
    
    His clothes were an odd fit and she had to tighten the belt more. The hat did not seem right with her long hair and the more she thought on it, the more she had to admit she would need to cut it. So she took the knife from his belt - currently her belt - and a fistful of her hair, holding it away from her head.  
    
    She hesitated. After this, there was no going back really. Not until the king was defeated and Hyrule was in her hands. But how else could she track him down? This was her best, and possibly only, option.  
    
    It took three cuts to finally send her pretty golden locks free from her head in full. She put the knife away and fingered the new ends of her hair. It was uneven at best, but that was of little concern. Few people knew what to expect from the hero as far as looks went.  
    
    She walked to the door that led outside and flung the locks of hair out. With any luck, some birds would decide it was perfect nesting material and no one would know she had been there without looking through that chest. But even her clothes had been indication. Impa had made sure to pick nothing with the royal emblem on it.  
    
    She looked back at the door she went through to find this place. Would Impa find her here? Was Impa even still..?  
    
    No. She had to be. That was not something she could doubt.   
    
    Zelda shook her head and began looking around the small building for anything she could use to protect herself on the road. They would meet again, she was sure.  
    
    Until then, however, she had to find the hero.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a dear friend of mine, this is a sort of What If. Originally, I wanted to give them all a different piece of the Triforce but that changed in favor of deciding it would be far more interesting to watch Zelda save the day as she is.


End file.
